Venezuela has scheduled parliamentary and regional elections for April 27, which the opposition said it would boycott, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The opposition says that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has won last year's presidential elections in Venezuela. The country's electoral authorities say that the winner is Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a third presidential term in 6 years on January 10.
Regarding the scheduling of parliamentary and regional elections, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on January 19 that the opposition would boycott the vote. "The presidential elections were held on July 28 last year. On this day, the people made their choice. The results must be respected. Until this result comes into force, the opposition will not participate in any elections“, said Machado.
The victory of Maduro declared by the authorities sparked a wave of protests that were violently suppressed. There were 28 victims and about 200 injured. Over 2,400 people were arrested.
Maduro's victory was not recognized by much of the international community.
Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who went to live in exile in Spain, has been on a foreign tour for several weeks and was in Ecuador yesterday and will be in Peru today. So far, he has visited Argentina, Uruguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic and attended Donald Trump's inauguration, where he received the support of Washington and the new number one US diplomat, Marco Rubio, who endorsed him as the legitimate president of Venezuela.